Diet Pepsi Crisis #2

If you have been reading my blog from the beginning, you will know that S has an addiction to diet Pepsi, which isn't necessarily a good thing when it is hard to come by and very expensive here in Chennai.

After we moved to our house in August, I went in search of where to buy diet Pepsi bottles close to us. The place near the apartment where I was buying them was just now too far away to shop. Well I went to the first grocery store near us and they told me no that they didn't have them, but that they would have them next time I came in. Well, I have been back to this store countless times and have never seen diet Pepsi bottles ever.

So, I went to a second grocery store near us, same response as first store...except this time I talked to the manager and gave him my telephone number to call me after he spoke to the supplier. Well, it's been two months, and I'm still waiting on that phone call.

By this point, I've given up hope that we are going to be able to find diet Pepsi bottles near us. A couple of days later I go to a 3rd grocery store near us called Nuts & Spices. I'm checking out and wasn't even going to ask about the bottles, but I thought at this point I don't have anything to lose, so I ask. Well the guy tells me that in this part of Chennai they don't have diet Pepsi bottles. I ask him if he can PLEASE call the supplier, because I will take a large quantity (by this point I'm pretty much begging)...like 10 cases. Well he takes down my number, and I leave honestly thinking there is no way I'll ever get a phone call back. Well 20 minutes later, my phone rings and it's Nuts & Spices telling me that they will have 10 cases of diet Pepsi bottles for me the next day. Great!

The next day comes, and I receive a phone call at about 1pm that my diet Pepsi is in and when could I come get it. So, I go pick it up. Well the guy assures me that the next time I need bottles to just let them know, and in one day, they can get for me. No worries. I take the diet Pepsi home, and at this point, we haven't received our food shipment, so I have more than enough room to store 240 bottles of diet Pepsi. The next couple of times I'm in this store, the guy asks me if I need any more diet Pepsi. I tell him no, but that I will let him know when I need some.

Well, the week before we left for Dubai, it is time to get more diet Pepsi. I stop by Nuts & Spices, but the guy I have been working with is not there (still haven't seen him, so I'm not sure what happened to the guy). So, I explain my situation to the new guy. He tells me that he will call the supplier and will let me know.

Well an hour later, I receive a phone call from the new guy...no diet Pepsi for 5 days. OK, fine...we are going to Dubai anyway, so I will worry about it when we get back (which by the way, in Dubai, diet Pepsi and diet Coke are both readily available in all shapes and sizes at reasonable prices...as a souvenir, we even brought back diet Pepsi in glass bottles). Well in the meantime, our food shipment comes, and I have some diet Pepsi in it, so I don't really worry about getting the bottles here. However, I do know that there isn't near enough to get S through to the next food shipment.

So, on Saturday, I stop by Nuts & Spices to inquire about the diet Pepsi bottles. He remembers me and even opens his notebook to show me that he has my name card taped into it. He says that he will call the supplier the next day to find out about the bottles. Well the next day is Sunday, and then Monday and Tuesday were holidays around here...and of course, no phone call back.

So, this afternoon I call Nuts & Spices to see what is going on. Well the guy puts me on hold forever, and I'm pretty sure that he is calling the supplier on the other line. Anyway, he comes back on the phone line and tells me that the diet Pepsi bottles will be available in 5 days, and that he will call me when it is in (like I haven't heard this story before). I ask him how many boxes will he get for me...and he says 20! Yikes, where am I going to store 20 boxes...or 480 bottles of diet Pepsi at???

Anyway, at this point, I'm not too concerned about the storage issue, because I'm pretty confident that I won't hear back from the guy. However, I will call him on Monday to follow up...and in the small chance that he does come up with 20 cases, I will take it and find room for it...after all, who knows when I'll be able to get it again? Unless S decides to kick this habit, I'm not willing to start paying $15 per case for diet Pepsi cans here...they definitely don't pay us enough for that price.

And, so goes life in India. A round and a round we go on the frustration wheel of life. The diet Pepsi saga to be continued....